On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve maintained its key interest rate in the range of 5.25%-5.50%, sparking a moderate rise in U.S. stock index futures. Despite the gains, investor sentiment remained cautious due to concerns over the potential economic fallout of rates staying higher for longer. This follows Tuesday's selloff, which was fueled by uncertainty around the rates trajectory and concerns over the U.S. economy.
Gabriele Foà, Portfolio Manager at Algebris Investments, noted that the Fed's updated projections are likely to show one more hike in 2023, with an aim to stabilize inflation amidst higher growth in 2023/24. Recent economic data has suggested an easing in core inflation, fueling bets of a likely peak in interest rates. However, surging oil prices have impacted headline inflation figures, paving the way for the Federal Reserve to project higher-for-longer rates.
In response to these developments, financial markets have priced a 99% chance that the Fed will leave rates unchanged and a near 71% likelihood of standing pat in November, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
Meanwhile, marketing automation company Klaviyo made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The Boston-based company had secured a valuation of $9.2 billion in its initial public offering after pricing shares above their indicated range.
In other market movements, Instacart's shares lost 5.0% following their Nasdaq debut on Tuesday, while Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) saw a decrease of 0.9%. Dollar General (NYSE:DG) fell by 1.3% after J.P. Morgan downgraded the discount store operator to "underweight".
U.S. Treasury yields retreated from their 2007 highs ahead of Wednesday's announcement by the Federal Reserve. This helped megacap growth stocks such as Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) notch gains, rising between 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.
Despite the overall uncertainty, all major S&P 500 sectors rose on Wednesday, with real estate and industrials leading gains, up 0.8% and 0.7% respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 105.32 points, or 0.31%, at 34,623.05, the S&P 500 was up 12.22 points, or 0.27%, at 4,456.17, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 25.78 points, or 0.19%, at 13,703.97.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.